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Need a police reform so bad in the country. Anna hazare should do andolan for demanding police reform. I bet people of whole country be on the streets for that because everyone I know is sick and tired of indian police's behavior. ﻿

Petey the Volleyball Dog now plays Basketball and is shooting some hoops. We are using a special Volleyball that is soft on his mouth. Also, he is wearing booties to protect his paw pads on the hard pavement. Enjoy!

You may remember Petey the Border Collie as the dog who could totally kick your butt at volleyball, but he's got more than one trick up his sleeve.

Apparently on days when he's not showing everyone up on the volleyball court, he suits up in a jersey and booties and shoots some hoops with his lady friend. Don't believe us?

The best part is that he isn't all about the offense. He totally plays D while his human counterpart cuts into the key, and rebounds his own missed shots quite a few times. With the NBA lockout, we might need Petey to make a few more of these videos to keep us entertained this basketball season.

Dolphins are cetacean mammals closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Maui's dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons) (the orca or killer whale). They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves and are carnivores, eating mostly fish and squid. The family Delphinidae, the largest in the order Cetacea, evolved relatively recently, about ten million years ago during the Miocene.

EtymologyThe name is originally from Greek δελφίς (delphís), "dolphin", which was related to the Greek δελφύς (delphus), "womb". The animal's name can therefore be interpreted as meaning "a 'fish' with a womb". The name was transmitted via the Latin delphinus (the romanization of the later Greek δελφῖνος – delphinos), which in Medieval Latin became dolfinus and in Old French daulphin, which reintroduced the ph into the word. The term mereswine (that is, "sea pig") has also historically been used.The term 'dolphin' can be used to refer to, under the suborder Odontoceti, all the species in the family Delphinidae (marine dolphins including orcas and pilot whales) and the river dolphin families Iniidae (South American river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (La Plata dolphin), Lipotidae (Yangtze river dolphin) and Platanistidae (Ganges river dolphin and Indus river dolphin). This term has often been misused in the US, mainly in the fishing industry, where all small cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) are considered porpoises, while the fish dorado is called dolphin fish. In common usage the term 'whale' is used only for the larger cetacean species, while the smaller ones with a beaked or longer nose are considered 'dolphins'. The name 'dolphin' is used casually as a synonym for bottlenose dolphin, the most common and familiar species of dolphin. Killer whales also belong to the family Delphinidae and therefore qualify as dolphins. Though the terms 'dolphin' and 'porpoise' are sometimes used interchangeably, porpoises are not considered dolphins and have different physical features such as a shorter beak and spade-shaped teeth; they also differ in their behavior. Porpoises belong to the family Phocoenidae and share a common ancestry with the Delphinidae.A group of dolphins is called a "school" or a "pod". Male dolphins are called "bulls", females "cows" and young dolphins are called "calves"

Threats

Natural threats

Except for humans (discussed below), dolphins have few natural enemies. Some species or specific populations have none, making them apex predators. For most of the smaller species of dolphins, only a few of the larger sharks, such as the bull shark, dusky shark, tiger shark and great white shark, are a potential risk, especially for calves. Some of the larger dolphin species, especially orcas (killer whales), may also prey on smaller dolphins, but this seems rare. Dolphins also suffer from a wide variety of diseases and parasites. The Cetacean morbillivirus in particular has been known to cause regional epizootics often leaving hundreds of animals of various species dead. Symptoms of infection are often a severe combination of pneumonia, encephalitis and damage to the immune system, which greatly impair the cetacean's ability to swim and stay afloat unassisted.

Human threats

Some dolphin species face an uncertain future, especially some river dolphin species such as the Amazon river dolphin, and the Ganges and Yangtze river dolphin, which are critically or seriously endangered. A 2006 survey found no individuals of the Yangtze river dolphin, which now appears to be functionally extinct.Pesticides, heavy metals, plastics, and other industrial and agricultural pollutants that do not disintegrate rapidly in the environment concentrate in predators such as dolphins. Injuries or deaths due to collisions with boats, especially their propellers, are also common.Various fishing methods, most notably purse seine fishing for tuna and the use of drift and gill nets, unintentionally kill many dolphins. Accidental by-catch in gill nets and incidental captures in antipredator nets that protect marine fish farms are common and pose a risk for mainly local dolphin populations. In some parts of the world, such as Taiji in Japan and the Faroe Islands, dolphins are traditionally considered food and are killed in harpoon or drive hunts. Dolphin meat is high in mercury and may thus pose a health danger to humans when consumed.Dolphin safe labels attempt to reassure consumers that fish and other marine products have been caught in a dolphin-friendly way. The earliest campaigns with "Dolphin safe" labels were initiated in the 1980s as a result of cooperation between marine activists and the major tuna companies, and involved decreasing incidental dolphin kills by up to 50% by changing the type of nets used to catch tuna. The dolphins are netted only while fishermen are in pursuit of smaller tuna. Albacore are not netted this way, making albacore the only truly dolphin-safe tuna.Loud underwater noises, such as those resulting from naval sonar use, live firing exercises, and certain offshore construction projects such as wind farms, may be harmful to dolphins, increasing stress, damaging hearing, and causing decompression sickness by forcing them to surface too quickly to escape the noise.

Conservation

Organizations such as the Mote Marine Laboratory rescue and rehabilitate sick, wounded, stranded or orphaned dolphins while others, such as the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, work on dolphin conservation and welfare. India has declared the dolphin as its national aquatic animal in an attempt to protect the endangered Ganges River Dolphin. The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary has been created in the Ganges river for the protection of the animals.Several scientists who have researched dolphin behaviour have proposed that dolphins' unusually high intelligence in comparison to other animals means that dolphins should be seen as non-human persons who should have their own specific rights and that it is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purposes or to kill them either intentionally for consumption or unintentionally as by-catch. Four countries – Chile, Costa Rica, Hungary, and India – have declared dolphins to be "non-human persons" and have banned the capture and import of live dolphins for entertainment.

Mangoes are one of my favorite fruits. They are plentiful in the stores around here in April and May, so King-Man and I have been eating them pretty much daily. Just as we eat grapefruit with reckless abandon when it is in season, mangoes take center stage this time of year. Love them. I like to buy a bunch of them and cut several at a time to have on hand in the fridge for a quick snack or dessert.

Mangoes can be a challenge to cut. If you try to cut them like other fruits, you're likely to end up with a big pile of mush trying to remove the flesh from the seed. It's not hard once you understand the size and position of the seed inside. The photos below will walk you through a simple procedure for cutting mangoes that you can quickly master.

Mango Nutrition"The King of Fruit" - In addition to being delicious, mangoes are insanely good for you. They are high in fiber and antioxidants and are rich in Vitamin A, C, E, B6 and potassium. They have been found to protect against colon, breast, leukemia and prostate cancers and promote heart health and lower blood pressure.

Step-by-step for How to Peel & Cut a Mango

There are a number of varieties of mangoes. Below are the two varieties that are most common in my St. Louis grocery stores. The smaller, golden colored Champagne mangoes are my favorite; but they're both good.

If you've never tried to peel and cut a mango before, it's important to understand the shape and location of the seed before you begin. It has a unique anatomy. Once you understand it, this cutting technique is a snap. Mangoes can be round or oblong. They have a slightly flattened shape. The seed in the center has a thin, flat oblong shape.

Before beginning to cut a mango, you need to estimate the location of the flat seed in the center. This gets easier after you've cut your first one. Below is how the mangoes look from the outside.

Place mango on cutting board with seed positioned vertically. Slice through the mango approx. 1/4" inch right of the center. This slice should be down the right side of the flat seed, as close to it as possible. If you start to slice and hit the seed with your knife, move the knife slightly to the right until you are able to slice all the way through.

You should have one piece of seedless fruit cut from the right side.

Slice down the left side of the seed in the same way. Now you have a left and right fruit slice and a seed in the center. You can try to cut off some of the remaining fruit around the seed, but there's often not much left there--the amount varies with different mango varieties.

Most of the edible mango fruit is in the 2 larges slices. Discard the center section that contains the seed.

Cutting Mango Slices

Using a sharp pointed knife, cut vertical slices through the flesh of the fruit, being careful not to cut through the skin. My slices are approx. 1/2" wide, but you can make them any width you want.

Pull down the sides of the peel, and push up from the bottom to fan out the cut mango.

Use your thumbs to pry the slices from the peel. You can also cut the slices off with a knife, or pry them off with a spoon. I prefer the thumb technique--it's easy and it's better at removing the most fruit from the peel.

Voila! Mango slices, ready for eating or cooking.

Cutting Mango Cubes

I usually cube my mangoes for easy eating and mixing in fruit salads. This is just like cutting slices, but with one more simple cutting step.

1st cut the vertical slices, cutting the fruit without piercing the skin. Then make horizontal cuts to achieve a checkerboard pattern.

Pull down the sides and push up from the bottom to fan the cut mango. The cubes pop up and separate. Use your thumbs to pry off the mango cubes (or use a knife or spoon).

Voila! Mango cubes, ready for eating.

Serving SuggestionsThere are many ways to eat mangoes. Here are some simple ideas.

#1: Eat mangoes plain. A bowl of freshly cut mangoes is sweet, juicy and delicious all by itself. This is the way we eat them most of the time. Cube several mangoes at one time, cover and refrigerate them, and you've got a yummy, delicious snack ready-to-eat. They will keep for 1-2 days in the fridge.

#2. Combine mangoes with other fruit. They are great in a fruit salad. One of my favorite combos is mangoes and raspberries. Their flavors complement each other perfectly. Delish! And, the color contrast is so dang pretty, too.

#3. Sprinkle a bowl of mango cubes with cinnamon. Cinnamon is also amazingly good for you (nutrition information here); combine it with mangoes for a powerhouse of flavors and nutrition.

#4. Make Mango Fruit Salad Salsa. I shared this recipe in a previous post. The combo of mangoes, apple, strawberries and kiwi is beautiful and delicious with Sugar and Spice Tortilla Chips.

Other Serving Suggestions:

Add mango cubes to cold cereal. Stir mango cubes into yogurt. Top vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt with mango cubes. Make a smoothy with mango, vanilla yogurt, and milk.

I've tried all of the serving suggestions above. Love them all. How do you like to eat mangoes?